Book 4 | Agent 34 and the Last Gem

Chapter 58 | A Wolf on the Horizon

Agent 34 awoke from last night's sleep as dawn struck. The top of the tent was tilted towards him now, rain piling atop it. All of the soldiers who were previously in the same tent as him had left, each helping the Rebellion pack up their supplies and begin for another day of travel.

He walked out to spot Thad on the top of the hill, surveying the land ahead of them. The elf approached his dwarf friend, standing on his left side.

"Good morning, 34," the dwarf said quietly, not taking his eyes off the horizon. "We will be departing momentarily. There's something up ahead that I would just like to take a look at,"

"What's wrong?" Agent 34 asked quickly.

"Nothing," Thad snapped. "Nothing. I just—I saw a wolf earlier come up on this hill earlier and look at our camp then retreat. I'm going to pursue it and see what it wants and if there's more. Werewolves travel in herds,"

"Don't go alone," He said quickly.

"It's okay," Thad shifted into a werewolf, hair growing super quickly and the dwarf jumping onto all fours. A tail popped out behind him, waving slowly behind him. His teeth sharpened and sprouted farther out, tongue growing flatter and floppier. His eyes turned bright yellow and looked similar to a cat's. "I'm a wolf, remember? I can reason with them,"

"But there's a huge chance they're hostile," The elf tried to reason with him. "This storm could've easily turned them evil, and if they travel in herds then you're in even bigger trouble,"

"Agent 34, I'll be fine," The wolf tried to convince him. "I'm the leader, I make the calls. If I need you, I'll call for you," He turned to leave, descending down the front side of the hill.

"Wait," Agent 34 stopped him.

Thad turned to him, an annoyed look on his face. "What?" he barked.

"Look,"

The wolf turned around to see a couple werewolves on the hill, marching in a battle formation. The marched with one paw at a time, a singular brown wolf with a bald spot on its head in the shape of a sharp oval. It appeared to be the leader. As they came over the hill, the amount of wolves was increasing quickly. Thad was unsure if they were marching to battle them or if they were marching just for show. He assumed it was the first reason.

Thad took off towards the wolves on the horizon. He ran towards the one in front, the one in front beginning to break away from its herd and run towards him. They reached each other in the middle.

"Hello," Thad began conversation. "I am Lord Thad, leader of the Zena and the Rebellion against Lord Braunick,"

The wolf grunted. "Hello, I am Lord Wilom, king of the werewolves. One of my scouts spotted your camps and we were wondering what you are doing on our land,"

"Ah," Thad exclaimed. "We are pursuing Braunick's castle and just passing through. We had no idea it was your land,"

"You're going for Braunick?" Wilom asked with shock. "That's a death wish!"

"Yes, yes, we know," The weredwarf told him. "However, the more time we waste, the stronger he gets,"

"There's no way your army can possibly be big enough to defeat the forces of his veroms and skeletons,"

"We have our standard men, or what's left of them, and the entire Ar'gualian species," Thad explained.

"You got the Ar'guals to help you?" The werewolf exclaimed. "Your words are all words of surprises,"

"Yes," Thad nodded.

"I don't see any problem with you passing over our land. I can't help but offer you our help in this battle, Lord Thad," The wolf told him.

"We'd be delighted to have the wolves accompany us to destroy Braunick's castle," Thad nodded, even more hope filling his heart.

"Great! Need any help with anything?" The king of the wolves flicked his tail back twice, the army of werewolves behind him beginning to walk towards the two.

"I think my soldiers nearly have it situated. We were just taking down camp and preparing to march further through Renya,"

"Alright. We will take position behind your armies, is that alright?"

"Yes, that sounds good," Thad smiled. "By the way, how are you and all of your wolves perfectly fine?"

"What do you mean?" He began to turn around, preparing to position himself somewhere inside his fellow wolves.

"I mean," the dwarf shifted back to his normal figure. "How has the rain not corrupted you?"

"Easy," Wilom told him. "Wolves cannot turn evil. They are not evil nor good. They are seen as 'wildlife' as the Gods call it, despite being an intelligent life form,"

"Ah," Thad said. "I see. Anyways, I look forward to fighting alongside you, brother,"

Wilom howled before running back into the crowd of wolves marching towards the Rebellion's previous camp.